This is a copy of Van Dyck's portrait of the Earl of Strafford, who was described by Charles I as a man 'a prince would be afraid of rather than ashamed of'. As Lord Deputy of Ireland he was ruthlessly efficient and high-handed, but, as modern scholarship emphasises, he struck out at the wayward over-mighty subject rather than the ordinary man. At the crisis of 1640 he returned to England, and thinking that 'it was far safer, that the King should increase in Power, than that the People should gain an advantage on the King', urged Charles to adopt strong measures. Executed by the Parliamentarians in 1641, he is shown in this portrait as Lord Deputy stroking the head of an Irish wolfhound.